Benzodiazepine Tapering & Deprescribing
in Weston, FL
Concierge telemedicine for benzodiazepine tapering, psychiatric medication deprescribing, and dependence treatment throughout Florida.
Benzodiazepine Tapering & Deprescribing
Dr. Leeds offers specialized telemedicine services to residents of Weston, Florida who are seeking safe, medically supervised benzodiazepine tapering and psychiatric medication deprescribing. Dr. Leeds understands that many patients in Weston have been prescribed benzodiazepines or other psychiatric medications long-term and are now looking for a safe path to reducing or discontinuing these drugs. Through concierge telemedicine, Dr. Leeds delivers personalized tapering plans directly to patients in their Weston homes — no commute to a clinic required. His practice also encompasses opioid dependence treatment with Suboxone and Subutex, alcohol use disorder treatment using the Sinclair Method, and low dose naltrexone therapy.
Weston is a master-planned city in western Broward County known for its family-friendly neighborhoods, top-rated schools, and expansive green spaces including the Everglades Holiday Park nearby. With a population that has grown steadily since its incorporation in 1996, Weston has become one of South Florida’s most desirable suburban communities.
Residents of Weston enjoy proximity to both Fort Lauderdale and Miami while maintaining a quieter, more residential pace of life. The city’s emphasis on planned community design means tree-lined streets, walking paths, and abundant parks — an environment well-suited to the gradual, patient-centered recovery process that Dr. Leeds supports through his telemedicine practice.
Despite Weston’s affluence and access to healthcare, finding a physician who specializes in benzodiazepine tapering remains a challenge. Many local providers lack the specific expertise needed for safe, gradual medication reduction, which is why Dr. Leeds’s telemedicine model is particularly valuable to Weston residents.
Medication Tapering & Deprescribing Programs
Treatment Programs Available to Weston Residents
Dr. Leeds provides comprehensive outpatient treatment programs via telemedicine to patients in Weston. The primary focus of his practice is benzodiazepine tapering — helping patients who have developed physical dependence on medications like Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan, or Valium to safely and gradually reduce their dosage. Physical dependence on benzodiazepines is a normal physiological response to long-term use and is not the same as addiction. Dr. Leeds treats each patient’s situation with this important distinction in mind.
In addition to benzodiazepine tapering, Dr. Leeds offers psychiatric medication deprescribing for patients who wish to reduce or discontinue antidepressants, sleep medications, and other psychotropic drugs under careful medical supervision. Many patients in Weston have been on these medications for years and are experiencing side effects or simply want to explore life without them.
Dr. Leeds also treats opioid dependence, alcohol use disorder, and offers low dose naltrexone therapy — all through the same concierge telemedicine model that allows Weston patients to receive expert care from home.
OUR STORY
ABOUT Mark Leeds, D.O.,
About Mark Leeds, D.O.
Dr. Leeds is an osteopathic physician who has dedicated his practice to helping patients safely taper off benzodiazepines, deprescribe psychiatric medications, and treat substance dependence. He serves on the medical advisory board of the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition (BIC), a nonprofit organization committed to raising awareness about the risks of benzodiazepine dependence and the importance of safe tapering protocols.
Dr. Leeds is also the host of The Rehab Podcast, where he discusses topics related to medication dependence, tapering strategies, and recovery with patients, advocates, and medical professionals. His podcast has become a trusted resource for individuals navigating the challenges of benzodiazepine and psychiatric medication withdrawal.
As a concierge telemedicine physician, Dr. Mark Leeds provides individualized care with longer appointments, direct access, and a level of personal attention that is rarely available in traditional medical settings. His osteopathic training gives him a holistic perspective on patient care, viewing each patient as a whole person rather than a collection of symptoms.
SERVICES AT GLANCE
OUR SERVICES
Here are some of the services provided by Dr. Leeds via concierge telemedicine throughout Florida.
Alcohol Treatment with the Sinclair Method for Weston Patients
For Weston residents struggling with alcohol use disorder, Dr. Leeds offers treatment using the Sinclair Method, an evidence-based approach that uses naltrexone taken before drinking to gradually reduce alcohol cravings over time. Unlike traditional abstinence-only models, the Sinclair Method works through a process called pharmacological extinction — the medication blocks the endorphin reinforcement that alcohol provides, allowing the brain to slowly unlearn the association between drinking and reward.
This approach can be particularly appealing to patients in Weston who want an effective, private treatment option that does not require group meetings or residential rehab. Dr. Leeds prescribes and monitors naltrexone therapy through telemedicine, providing ongoing support as patients work toward reduced drinking or full abstinence based on their personal goals.
Benzodiazepine Tapering for Weston Patients: Why Medication Safety Matters
One of the most dangerous misconceptions about benzodiazepine dependence is that patients can simply stop taking their medication — or that a rapid detox program lasting a few days can safely accomplish what should take weeks or months. Dr. Leeds works with Weston patients to provide the kind of careful, gradual tapering that protects against the serious risks of abrupt discontinuation, including seizures, psychosis, and life-threatening withdrawal complications.
Rapid detox programs — sometimes marketed as quick, painless solutions — can be genuinely dangerous for benzodiazepine-dependent patients. These programs often reduce doses far too quickly, overwhelming the nervous system and triggering severe withdrawal symptoms. Some patients who survive rapid detox are left with prolonged withdrawal syndromes that can persist for months or years. For Weston residents considering their options, Dr. Leeds strongly advises against any approach that promises fast results with benzodiazepine discontinuation.
It is essential to understand that physical dependence on benzodiazepines is not addiction. A patient who has taken a prescribed benzodiazepine as directed for months or years will develop physical dependence — this is a predictable neurological adaptation, not a moral failing or a sign of addictive behavior. Dr. Leeds treats every Weston patient with this understanding, focusing on safe medical management rather than addiction-oriented interventions that do not apply to most benzodiazepine-dependent patients.
Cold turkey discontinuation of benzodiazepines is never recommended. Reducing the dose too quickly also raises the risk of benzodiazepine-induced neurological dysfunction (BIND), a set of lasting symptoms that can persist after the medication is reduced or stopped. BIND can produce debilitating symptoms including severe anxiety, insomnia, nerve pain, cognitive impairment, and sensory disturbances. Dr. Leeds designs each Weston patient’s taper to minimize the risk of BIND by following a gradual, individualized reduction schedule.
Services & Approach to Medication Tapering
Benzodiazepine Tapering
Dr. Leeds specializes in safe, medically supervised benzodiazepine tapering using the Ashton Manual crossover protocol, hyperbolic tapering, and compound pharmacy formulations. Learn more about tapering services.
Psychiatric Deprescribing
Safe tapering of SSRIs, SNRIs, gabapentinoids, and antipsychotics using the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines and individualized hyperbolic dose reduction. Learn more.
Opioid Treatment
Medication-assisted treatment using buprenorphine (Suboxone, ZubSolv) with individualized dosing strategies for maintenance or gradual tapering. Learn more.
Alcohol Treatment
The Sinclair Method using naltrexone gradually reduces cravings through pharmacological extinction. Does not require abstinence to begin. Learn more.
Concierge Telemedicine for Weston Residents
Dr. Leeds operates a concierge telemedicine practice, which means Weston patients receive a level of access and attention that is fundamentally different from a typical doctor’s office. Appointments are longer, follow-up communication is more direct, and the treatment relationship is built on continuity — Dr. Leeds personally manages each patient’s care rather than delegating to rotating staff.
For Weston residents, the telemedicine model eliminates the need to travel to an office while still receiving expert care from a physician who specializes in benzodiazepine tapering and medication deprescribing. This is especially important for patients experiencing withdrawal symptoms that make driving or leaving home difficult. The concierge model ensures that patients have the support they need throughout every stage of their taper.
Concierge Telemedicine for Weston Residents
Dr. Leeds operates a concierge telemedicine practice, which means Weston patients receive a level of access and attention that is fundamentally different from a typical doctor’s office. Appointments are longer, follow-up communication is more direct, and the treatment relationship is built on continuity — Dr. Leeds personally manages each patient’s care rather than delegating to rotating staff.
For Weston residents, the telemedicine model eliminates the need to travel to an office while still receiving expert care from a physician who specializes in benzodiazepine tapering and medication deprescribing. This is especially important for patients experiencing withdrawal symptoms that make driving or leaving home difficult. The concierge model ensures that patients have the support they need throughout every stage of their taper.
Subutex Treatment for Weston Patients
Dr. Leeds prescribes Subutex (buprenorphine) for Weston patients dealing with opioid dependence. Subutex contains only buprenorphine without naloxone, which may be appropriate for certain patients based on their medical history and treatment needs. As a partial opioid agonist, buprenorphine reduces withdrawal symptoms and cravings while having a ceiling effect that makes it safer than full agonist opioids.
Dr. Leeds monitors each Weston patient’s response to Subutex carefully through telemedicine follow-ups, adjusting dosing as needed and providing support throughout the stabilization process and beyond.
Weston residents ready to begin a safe, medically supervised taper can contact Dr. Leeds to schedule a consultation. Dr. Mark Leeds provides expert benzodiazepine tapering and psychiatric medication deprescribing through concierge telemedicine — safe, private, and accessible from home.
Outpatient Telemedicine vs. Inpatient Rehab for Weston Patients
Many Weston residents assume that inpatient rehab is the only option for addressing medication dependence, but for most benzodiazepine-dependent patients, residential treatment is not only unnecessary — it can be counterproductive. Inpatient programs often use rapid taper protocols that are too aggressive for safe benzodiazepine discontinuation. A patient who checks into rehab expecting a careful taper may instead be subjected to a timeline dictated by insurance coverage rather than medical safety.
Dr. Leeds’s outpatient telemedicine model allows Weston patients to taper at a medically appropriate pace while remaining in their own homes, maintaining their daily routines, and avoiding the disruption and expense of residential treatment. This approach is not only safer for benzodiazepine tapering — it is also more practical for patients with work, family, and other responsibilities.
What is the best sober living home that Weston has to offer?
Sober living homes are uncommon within Weston itself, although they exist elsewhere in Broward County. However, there are many halfway houses in Broward County, so you can access sober living a short drive away.
What is a sober living home? For people who are completing a rehab program, they are often not quite ready to go back to their previous living arrangements. The sober home provides a transitional home-alternative.
Most sober homes, or halfway houses, have two residents per room. There are homes that only allow one gender, and then there are homes that allow both men and women.
Medical treatment for opioid addiction and medical therapy for excessive alcohol consumption works so well that, in many cases, rehab and sober living are not necessary. However, it is good to know that it is available when needed.
Low Dose Naltrexone: Uses, Side-effects & Treatment
Low dose naltrexone is sometimes used for people with chronic pain from autoimmune disorders or other conditions, and Dr. Leeds can discuss it in a consultation. Low Dose Naltrexone, or LDN, uses the addiction treatment drug, Naltrexone, but at much lower dosages.
In order to get such low dosages of naltrexone, a compounding pharmacy is required. Weston and the surrounding Broward County area have compounding pharmacies that can prepare it. Filling a custom LDN prescription is usually straightforward once a compounding pharmacy has been chosen.
LDN is prescribed at a small fraction of the naltrexone dose used for alcohol and opioid dependence. The label dose of naltrexone for alcohol and opioid dependence is many times higher, which is why the low dose has to be made by a compounding pharmacy.
For more information on LDN and how to get started, please contact Dr. Leeds.
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Methadone vs. Buprenorphine: Options for Weston Patients
Methadone has been used for decades to treat opioid dependence, but it requires daily visits to a licensed methadone clinic — a significant burden for Weston patients. Buprenorphine-based medications like Suboxone and Subutex can be prescribed through telemedicine and taken at home, offering a more flexible and private treatment option.
Dr. Leeds helps Weston patients understand the differences between methadone and buprenorphine so they can make informed decisions about their treatment. For many patients, the convenience and safety profile of buprenorphine makes it the preferred choice, and Dr. Leeds’s telemedicine model makes accessing this treatment straightforward.
Opioid and Opiate Withdrawal: Symptoms and Treatments
Do residents know what it is like to go through opioid and opiate withdrawal? The symptoms are very unpleasant, though there is medical treatment to make opioid withdrawal more tolerable.
People who are dependent on opioids live in every community, including Weston. People who use opioids come from all walks of life. In fact, many are successful in business, and do very well professionally, while struggling with an opioid addiction.
Many people who develop an opioid addiction hold demanding jobs and keep their struggle hidden from colleagues for years. Professional success does not protect anyone from dependence, and it often makes the problem harder to see.
Doctors, lawyers, business owners, entrepreneurs, artists, scientists are all examples of professions where people have continued working at their profession while actively using opioids addictively. Medication-assisted treatment has also helped people in all of these professions to overcome their opioid addiction.
So, if a resident is going through opioid or opiate withdrawal, they should be aware that there is medical treatment that can help. There are meds, such as methadone and buprenorphine. There is also lofexidine (Lucemyra), a non-opioid medication approved by the FDA to ease the symptoms of opioid withdrawal.
For more information on lofexidine and other medications used to ease opioid withdrawal, please contact Dr. Leeds.
Oxycodone Withdrawal and Detox
Oxycodone and Oxycontin are opioid drugs that found their way into nearly every community in America, during the height of the opioid epidemic and pill mill problem. Additionally, these opioid medications are used legitimately in hospitals and pain clinics on a regular basis.
Oxycodone withdrawal and detox is available for opioid dependent people who live here. Even people who are not addicted to oxycodone, but have taken it for pain for a long time, become physically dependent on the drug. This means that they get physically sick when they try to stop oxycodone, cold turkey.
Anyone interested in treatment for oxycodone dependence or addiction can reach Dr. Leeds through this website’s contact form.
Benzodiazepine Tapering and Deprescribing by Telemedicine for Weston, FL
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Concierge Telemedicine vs. VIP Rehab Programs
Some Weston residents may be drawn to luxury or VIP rehab programs that promise resort-like accommodations and exclusive care. While these programs offer comfort, they often follow the same rapid detox protocols as standard rehab facilities when it comes to benzodiazepine tapering. A luxury setting does not change the medical reality that benzodiazepines require slow, careful tapering — and paying premium prices for a rapid taper does not make it safer.
Dr. Leeds’s concierge telemedicine model provides the individualized, expert-level care that VIP programs promise but often fail to deliver for benzodiazepine-dependent patients. Weston patients receive genuine medical expertise in tapering, not just a comfortable room, from a physician who specializes in this work.
Mindfulness Meditation for Addiction Recovery
This is a quiet place, with many family homes, placed neatly amongst lakes and parks. Children play in the streets, by the community pools, and at the parks.
For residents interested in mindfulness and meditation, many can look to their own backyards for a place of peace, quiet. Sitting with the sounds of birds, and the soft breeze, blowing the leaves of the trees, you can sit, close your eyes, and take a moment of quiet reflection.
Mindfulness can help people stay on the path of recovery from addiction. Being aware of your feelings, thoughts, and of the present moment can make all of the difference.
How do you learn to meditate? There are local centers nearby that teach formal meditation technique. Or, you can use an app, or soundtrack of a guided meditation program. Simply put on your headphones and play the track.
Binaural beats are special audio programs that help with mindful meditation. These tracks play slightly different tones in each ear, which the brain perceives as a single pulsing beat. Some listeners find the effect relaxing, although evidence that it changes brain activity is limited.
For more information on how mindful meditation can help you to overcome an addiction, please contact Dr. Leeds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sublocade vs Suboxone: which is better for treating opioid addiction?
Both the monthly Sublocade injection and the sublingual Suboxone films and tablets contain the drug, buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is a mixed partial opioid agonist/antagonist. This means that the drug both activates and blocks the opioid receptors. Sublocade provides reliable coverage with a monthly shot. Suboxone and its generics are taken daily by mouth and are the form Dr. Leeds prescribes; he can discuss the injectable products in a consultation.
Is there a better alternative to rehab?
Rehab is an expensive way to treat drug addiction. A month in a residential rehab facility can be very expensive. A better option is to see a concierge addiction treatment doctor. Many people do better with care that is personal, continuous and delivered by the same physician.
What is an effective harm reduction method to help people drink less alcohol?
The Sinclair Method, or TSM, is a harm reduction protocol that helps people to drink less alcohol. Whether the problem is an alcohol addiction or gray area drinking, TSM can help. By taking naltrexone before drinking, many patients gradually reduce how much they drink.
Why is gratitude such an important part of addiction therapy?
Gratitude is a powerful tool to help a person to stay drug and alcohol free. Recovery from addiction can be challenging, especially early on. Focusing on what we have to be grateful for in life is a great help in keeping things in perspective. Simply, keep a daily gratitude list.
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Get in Touch With us
A Florida Osteopathic Physician
3290 NE 33rd Street,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33308
email us
info@drleeds.com
Opening Hours
Monday – Friday
10 am – 2 pm
By Appointment
Services
Consulting
Opioid Detox Therapy
Concierge Medical Services